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DID DeSOTO DISCOVER THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN 
TUNICA COUNTY, MISS. 


By DUNBAR ROWLAND 


Reprinted from the Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, 
Centenary Series, Volume II, 1918 




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DID DE SOTO DISCOVER THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN 
TUNICA COUNTY, MISS.?* 


By Dunbar Rowland, LL. D. 

Director Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 


After the discovery of America by Columbus, the Spaniards 
made two heroic efforts to explore the interior of North Amer¬ 
ica. De Soto and Coronado were the intrepid leaders of the ex¬ 
peditions, and if their routes are linked together, they almost 
reach across the continent from Georgia to the Gulf of Cali¬ 
fornia. The march of De Soto has received most attention from 
historians and it deserves the distinction. His coming marks the 
advent of the white man on the soil of six great Southern States 
and the narratives of his march contain the earliest accounts of 
the Lower South,—of its flora, fauna and topography, of the 
Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles,—Indian tribes 
famous in history, story and song, and of the discovery of the 
Mississippi River and the first crossing of its waters by a white 
race. 

After the distastrous expedition of Narvaez, 1527-28, the vast 
region called Florida by the Spaniards was neglected. Their 
imagination, however, was much inflamed by the wealth found 
in Mexico and Peru by Cortez and Pizarro, and the next to try 
his fortune was Plernando de Soto, the son of an esquire of Xerez 
de Badajoz, who bad been with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, 
and who was eager to rival the exploits and achievements of 
Cortez and Pizarro. 

The best evidence of all the incidents connected with the De- 
Soto expedition is, of course, the written statements, made at 


- DeS ?K L ^Mississippi River? The Editor of these Publications 

holds the opinion that the place of discovery was in Tunica county, Mississippi. The 
question is discussed by Judge J. P. Young of Memphis and the Editor in the following 
papers. 


(144) 


Anthw 

JVL 15 !$W 



Did DeSoto Discover the Mississippi River Rowland. 145 

the time by accurate and truthful men who accompanied it, and 
such narratives only can be received by the conscientious and 
careful historian. We have several satisfactory, accurate and 
reliable records of the DeSoto expedition, chief among which 
are several contemporary and independent narratives of the 
progress of the march, correctly translated from the original 
Spanish, viz: “Narrative of the Gentleman of Elvas,” (sup¬ 
posed to be Benedict Fernandez), which is the longest and one 
of the most accurate; “The Narrative of Louis Hernandez de 
Biedma,’ the factor of the expedition, which is highly colored 
and unreliable; “The History of Hernando DeSoto and Florida,” 
by Garciloso de la Vega (the Inca), compiled from oral state¬ 
ments of three of DeSoto’s companions and written in 1591, fifty 
years after the expedition. This narrative is the least trust¬ 
worthy as the writer had no personal knowledge of the facts. 
The official report of the expedition which Rodrigo Ranjel, the 
secretary of De Soto, drew up from his diary, made from day to 
day on the march, on reaching Mexico, is the accepted and best 
account. My authority for these estimates is Dr. E. G. Bourne, 
of Yale, the scholarly author of “Spain in America.” 

The purpose of this paper is not to trace the entire route of 
DeSoto’s tragic expedition. My purpose is to answer, guided 
by the best authorities, the question: “Did DeSoto discover the 
Mississippi River in Tunica County, Mississippi?” Candor com¬ 
pels me to answer in the affirmative and to give the reasons for 
my conclusion and the evidence upon which it is based. 

I freely admit in the outset that the claim of Memphis as the 
place where the great river was discovered has been accepted 
by some Memphians, but that acceptance has, no doubt, been 
based upon the narrative of Garciloso de la Vega, “The Inca,” 
which careful and complete investigation has shown to be un¬ 
reliable and not in accord with the narratives of the facts as 
given in all contemporary accounts. 

My contention is that the Mississippi River was discovered in 
Tunica County, Mississippi, at Willow Point, which the map of 
De L’lsle made in 1718, places about 30 miles in a straight line 
below Memphis, and in Tunica County. Not a map, so far as 
10 


146 


Mississippi Historical Society. 


I know, gives Memphis the honor of being the point at which 
the Mississippi was discovered. 

The most painstaking and accurate study of the route of the 
DeSoto expedition is that of Theodore Hayes Lewis, the learned 
antiquarian, archaeologist and historian, which appears in Volume 
VI., Pages 449-467, Publications of the Mississippi Historical 
Society. I quote from that authority that part of his study which 
deals with the march of DeSoto from April 26 to June 18, 1541, 
which includes his immediate journey to and crossing of the 
river. 

“On Tuesday, April 26th, -they left Chicacilla and slept at 
Alabamo. On Thursday they came to another savanna, where 
the Indians had constructed a very strong fort of palisades, 
which was located on the bank of a small river, near a ford. 
The Spaniards stormed it and drove the Indians out and across 
the river. This fort and ford were on the Tallahatchie river, 
and probably at or near New Albany, in Union County. Rocky 
Ford, located on section 17, town 7, range 1 east, some 15 miles 
below New Albany, is the last point down the river at which a 
crossing can be made by fording, but the topography makes it an 
improbable point. On Saturday, April 30th, the army left this 
enclosed place, turning to the westward. According to Elvas, 
the country they were now passing through was a wilderness of 
thick forests, having many marshy places that were fordable, 
and some basins and lakes (sluggish streams) that were not. 
In another place he says: “The land is low, abounding in lakes.” 
Ranj el says they passed over bad roads leading through woods 
and swamps. This part of the route lay wholly within the State 
of Mississippi, for, had it been toward Memphis, they would 
have passed through a hilly region instead of one of swamps. 
While the route by way of Sacchuma would have been practi¬ 
cally of the same general character, they were prevented from 
taking it by reason of the hostility of the Indians, for then they 
would have had both tribes to contend with. 

“At noon on Sunday, May 8th, they arrived at the first town 
in Quisquis, and carried it by sudden assault, A league distant 
was the second town, and at the end of another league they came 
to the third town, “where they saw the great river.” On Satur¬ 
day, May 21st, they moved to a meadow lying between the river 
and a little town,'—the fourth one. Elvas says there was a river 
a crossbow-shot from the first town, and that they moved to 
another one (Ranjel’s third town), a half league from the river, 


Did DeSoto Discover the Mississippi River?— Rowland. 147 


and from there to a plain near the river. The crossing - was made 
either at Council Bend or Walnut Bend, in Tunica County, in a 
straight line some 25 to 38 miles below Memphis. DeLTsle 
(1718) seems to have been the first geographer to attempt to 
map the route, and he places the crossing at “Pointe d’Oziers” 
(Willow Point) ; but the place cannot be identified. D’Anville 
(1*35) shows “Point d’Oziers,” plainly enough as being about 
halfway between the mouths of the St. Francis and White rivers; 
but this is too far down. The Chiaves map of 1598 (Ortelius’ 
edition) and the Sanson map of 1656, the information on both 
of which is taken from the Elvas narrative, the Leide map 
(1700) having the names from Elvas and the Inca intermixed, 
and other maps of a similar character, are not taken into con¬ 
sideration. 

“The Memphis theory of the location of Quisquis and the 
crossing, which is based upon the Inca’s account, is untenable, 
and a fair analysis or review of his statements will show that 
neither the town nor the crossing was located at that point. He 
says: “They arrived in sight of a town called Chisca, which 
stood near a great river,” which he calls the Chucagua; that 
“many Indians gathered here (on the mound) and others in a 
very fine wood which lay between the town and the great river 
and that “because of the many streams around there they could 
not use their horses.” It will readily be seen that this description 
does not apply to the Fort Pickering mound. Ranjel gives the 
distance between the first and the third towns as being two 
leagues (over five miles) ; Elvas says that they moved to another 
(the third) town, gives the distance between it and the river as 
being a half league, and the Inca fills in this space with “a very 
fine wood.” Biedma says the town was near the banks of the 
Espiritu Santo, which statement refers to the third town. If 
commentators are right, and the town was located at the Fort 
Pickering mound, they should follow their authority (the Inca) 
for “four little days journey of three leagues each, up the river,” 
which would make the crossing about 31 miles above the mound. 
The reason given by the Inca for this journey of 12 leagues was 
the dense woods, together with the high, steep banks of the ra¬ 
vines leading to the river (and evidently the river banks also), 
“so that one could neither go up nor down them.” It is a well 
known fact that, wherever the channel of the lower Mississippi 
river strikes the edge of the flood plain, it is continually cutting 
away the bank, so that it is perpendicular or nearly so. There¬ 
fore, this part of his description is applicable to all such places. 
It should be borne in mind, however, that none of the narratives 
mention this journey.” 


148 


Mississippi Historical Society. 


The scholarly study of Mr. Lewis was published in 1902 and 
no historian has thought it wise to question his conclusions. 

The best translation of the narratives of the DeSoto expedi¬ 
tion is found in the “Narratives of DeSoto,” edited by Edward 
Gaylord Bourne, LL. D., Professor of History in Yale University, 
published in 1904, in two volumes as a part of “The Trail Mak¬ 
ers.” In his introductory note he gives an accurate estimate of 
the narratives of the expedition and in his opinion “The Inca” 
cannot be relied on. John G. Shea, another authority on the 
route of DeSoto, is of the same opinion. All the narratives, 
with the exception of “the Inca’s,” were written by participants in 
the expedition and were contemporary with it. 

My purpose in presenting this question is to correct what I 
believe to be an error which has almost become an accepted fact 
among many well informed and intelligent people. If I am 
depriving the great and prosperous City of Memphis of one of 
her most cherished traditions, let me assure her people that I do so 
with regret. If some of your images are broken by this discus¬ 
sion, truth requires it. If you are in error in claiming that De¬ 
Soto discovered the great river from your beautiful bluffs, I know 
that you will graciously concede it and heartily accord the honor 
to the State which bears the name of the mighty stream, discov¬ 
ered by the intrepid Spaniards three hundred and seventy-five 
years ago. 

State Department of Archives and History, 

Jackson, Miss., January 30, 1917. 


































































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